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AQA A level Biology Paper 1 07/06/18 Prediction Thread- June 7th 2018(7402/1)

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http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/as-and-a-level/biology-7401-7402/a-level-practical-assessment
This states all of the required practicals and apparatus required.
Guys I have a question.. Why are the grade boundaries for Biology so low in comparison with other linear subjects eg.Chemistry? Isnt a 60/91 very low for an A*? I feel like its too good to be true.. Thats like a 66%..
May be inhibitors,xerophytes,HIV,elisa test
Reply 23
Original post by Gonzales17
Guys I have a question.. Why are the grade boundaries for Biology so low in comparison with other linear subjects eg.Chemistry? Isnt a 60/91 very low for an A*? I feel like its too good to be true.. Thats like a 66%..


Last year the boundaries were reaaallyy low (57% got an A) but I think tbh its because lots of people just can't learn the amount of content compared to other subjects. If you don't use the key words you won't get the marks. Pretty much its just about how much more you need to know for bio compared to chem etc
Original post by CoCO3
Last year the boundaries were reaaallyy low (57% got an A) but I think tbh its because lots of people just can't learn the amount of content compared to other subjects. If you don't use the key words you won't get the marks. Pretty much its just about how much more you need to know for bio compared to chem etc


Oh i get it, you've got a point there! Thanks! :wink:
Original post by Gonzales17
Guys I have a question.. Why are the grade boundaries for Biology so low in comparison with other linear subjects eg.Chemistry? Isnt a 60/91 very low for an A*? I feel like its too good to be true.. Thats like a 66%..

because its so hard hahah
Original post by rachael200014
because its so hard hahah


If you learn the syllabus and youre comfortable with it i dont think its possible to drop over 25 marks.. learning the whooole syllabus is a matter for another day hahahaha
Reply 27
its not just about learning the theory side of things, i think the most you can get from just learning the specification is a C, familiarizing with the different types of questions and knowing the specific mark points is more important if you are targeting a B or above, so my advice to all is practice past papers
Original post by abid05
its not just about learning the theory side of things, i think the most you can get from just learning the specification is a C, familiarizing with the different types of questions and knowing the specific mark points is more important if you are targeting a B or above, so my advice to all is practice past papers


I've done that for the whole year and it really helps tbh
Original post by Coreysteele
I have been studying both specimen and past papers of the new spec and I can honestly inform you that nearly everything has come up in one way or another.

Things that have only briefly appeared include; Translocation, Xylem, Phloem, Mammalian gas exchange, Mechanism of breathing, Circulatory system, Digestion (absorption has come up as a 5/6 marker but not digestion), binary fission, viral replication, Mitosis/meiosis in detail and protein synthesis.

Like I said, practically everything has come up so just revise as much as you can! Also, I have noticed there has been a practical question on nearly every paper, so make sure you are up to scratch on your practical technique knowledge as well!

Good Luck :smile:

This was a very good assumption, almost everything you said came up
My suggestion would be to get hold of the old revision guide or spec and look over specific examples that have been taken out of taught content. These could reappear as the context for the new spec. questions.
e.g. sickle cell anaemia, CFTR, cholera (digestion& transport).
I would also expect kidney to come up; you might find OCR past papers are useful here.
Oh, and don't forget those old ISA and EMPA tasks for practising practical application.
You'll need to read the task sheet to get the idea of the investigation, then paper 1 involves usually technical details, variables, data anlaysis inc. statistics. Paper 2 applies the principles to a new context - this has all been replaced by your lovely required practicals and their associated exam questions.
Really recommend using these, because they reach the places that CPAC's and AT's can't.
Original post by Coreysteele
I have been studying both specimen and past papers of the new spec and I can honestly inform you that nearly everything has come up in one way or another.

Things that have only briefly appeared include; Translocation, Xylem, Phloem, Mammalian gas exchange, Mechanism of breathing, Circulatory system, Digestion (absorption has come up as a 5/6 marker but not digestion), binary fission, viral replication, Mitosis/meiosis in detail and protein synthesis.

Like I said, practically everything has come up so just revise as much as you can! Also, I have noticed there has been a practical question on nearly every paper, so make sure you are up to scratch on your practical technique knowledge as well!

Good Luck :smile:


Can you make any predictions for paper 2 - things have only so far briefly appeared?
Original post by Munisha00
This was a very good assumption, almost everything you said came up

I agree! Have you done the same for papers 2 and 3?
Original post by lucieannwhite
hey guys!!
Iv'e written this essay for biology but need an idea of where I'm at in terms of marks. does anyone know how to mark an essay?

the title is: Carbon dioxide may affect organisms directly or indirectly. Describe and explain these effects.

I wrote: Carbon dioxide is a molecule becoming evermore present in today's atmosphere - now making up 0.04%. It is made up of one carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms. Although it is vital for many biological processes, it can have some negative impacts, as described in my essay below. Firstly, the process of carbon sequestration involves capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and putting it in long term storage. Biologic sequestration involves the use of plants to capture this CO2 via photosynthesis and store it as carbon in the stems and roots (as well as in the soil). CO2 is useful for plant organisms and affects them directly- it is used to bind with Ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP) the light independent reaction of photosynthesis to form a six carbon intermediate in the Calvin cycle. This molecule is unstable however, and therefore breaks down into 2x stable 3-carbon molecules of Glycerate-2-phosphate. This is then converted to Triose phosphate via a reduction reaction; ATP is hydrolysed to ADP+Pi and an electron is donated to NAD to form reduced NAD. One carbon molecule is released and Ribulose bisphosphate is regenerated as a 5-carbon molecule. To form one molecule of Glucose, the cycle has to repeat six times as only one molecule of carbon is released every time.

CO2 can also have indirect negative effects on aquatic ecosystems. Carbon dioxide released from biologic sequestration into the atmosphere often diffuses into the oceans through direct chemical exchange. This CO2 then dissolves in the salt water and forms carbonic acid. This makes the slightly alkaline water become a little more acidic (the pH is lowered). Therefore there is a higher concentration of hydrogen ions (H+). The impacts on ecosystems is huge; firstly, carbonic acid reacts with carbonate ions in the water to form bicarbonate. This is detrimental because carbonate ions are used by many plank-tonic species to create their calcium carbonate shells. With less carbonate available, the animals need to expend more energy to create these shells (via the hydrolysis of ATP) - as a result, the shells are often thinner and more brittle.

CO2 also has direct implications on more complex organisms like humans. For example, during intense levels of exercise, anaerobic respiration can be used as a last resort to provide an essential "boost" of energy from ATP (although it only produces 2 molecules of ATP via glycolysis, whereas aerobic respiration produces approximately 38). it is used as oxygen levels in the blood are not sufficient for aerobic respiration to take place in respiring tissues. This causes the increase of CO2 in the blood which is then detected by chemo-receptors in the medulla oblongata and in carotid arteries. This in turn increases the frequency of nerve impulses sent to the sino-atrial node (SAN) which then passes these impulses to the atrioventricular node (AVN) which directs the impulse down the muscle walls of the heart and up the septum (to stop the pooling of blood) from the purkinje fibers. This causes the sympathetic nervous system to increase the heart rate and therefore respiratory rate. This increases levels of oxygen in the blood, which therefore increases pH again and lowers the concentration of CO2.

If this process was to not occur, the low pH of the blood would indirectly affect enzyme activity. If the CO2 concentration is too high, then it may cause the active site of enzymes in the blood to become denatured- as the primary structure changes which alters the tertiary structure due to increased vibrations putting strain on the structural bonds like disulphide bridges. This would cause the active site to no longer be complementary to its substrate and therefore no enzyme-substrate complexes would form; hence the enzymes would be non-functional.

this took me an hour to hand write (i typed it up to put it on here)
also if you have any topic ideas please let me know as i could only think of these ones :smile:


Don't forget the bohr shift, role of Co2 levels in central control of ventilation rate, role of spiracle terminal carbonic acid in insect ventilation.
(edited 5 years ago)
predictions for paper 3?

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